DIRECT ACTIONS AGAINST THE CAPITALIST EXPLOITATION AND WARS!
When this is written, Uncle Sam is installing a puppet
regime in Iraq. The victims in this war have been, and
are, ordinary people that have been suffering wars,
sanctions and a brutal Iraqi dictatorship. The United
States has a supreme military machine, but the
hegemonic power of capitalism is vulnerable
economically. It's fighting on many fronts, and there
are because of this more desperate capitalist wars to
come.

The economic problems became visible in the
aftermath of the economical boom in the 90s. This
boom grew from new technology that facilitated
faceless, speculative stock, bond and currency
traders sitting behind computer screens moving
money to the parts and fields of the globe. The
multinational corporations spread their factories
around the world, constantly shifting them to the most
efficient, low cost producers. The United States
became the global economy's buyer, soaking up the
goods from factories as in Indonesia, Brazil, South
Korea and China, besides their deliveries from
Germany and Japan.

One important part of the economical foundation of
the US hegemony lies in this management of the
finance capital, not in the mercantile production. It
relies on the world's financial centres, transnational
corporations, rating agencies, auditing, accounting
and consulting firms, and, politically on the United
States special relationship with the United Kingdom.
Most major credits must be granted with reference to
US- and UK-based rating agencies. The auditing
firms are indispensable in the evaluation of assets in
the case of major mergers or large-scale privatisation.

Another part of the economical hegemony is the US
position as the most powerful member of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), and as a powerful
centre of alliances within the World Trade
Organisation (WTO). Great Britain has an important
role also in this by preventing the European Union
(EU) from bringing its full weight to bear against US
positions.

In monetary terms, the US superiority also rest highly
on the US dollar acting as the world`s main currency
as a store of value, a medium of exchange and a unit
of account for official and private users. It serves as
the main currency for world trade, bank loans, bond
issues, international bank loans and bank currency
reserves. This brings considerable advantages to the
US as it attracts international assets and
investments, the US authorities gets a larger range of
fiscal policy options, and as long as the system
functions, the foreign governments themselves see
an interest in the stability of the dollar.

The system functioned according to the US intentions
during the Cold War when Japan and Germany were
"protected" by the United States against the external
threat of the Soviet Union. But, when the Soviet Union
was disintegrated in late 1991, it left a "black hole" of
countries, and some of them were possessing nuclear
weapons. The first task of the US was then, as it was
written in a draft plan made by the Pentagon in 1992:
"To prevent the re-emergence of a new rival either on
the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere".

This task described in the Pentagon draft has since
been the subordinate policy of the United States. The
plans made in the 1990s till today have come far in the
planning, but shorter in the implementation and the
challenges are: 1. To develop the economical,
technological and military supremacy in the New
Century. 2. To prevent the emerging of rivals by
having a New Common Enemy, and by using a split
and rule policy. 3. To use
oil as a central issue and weapon in the geo-political
play.

It seems that the following problems toppled for the
US in the turn of the millennium, and it explains why
we lately have seen an increasingly more aggressive
and militarist capitalism:

Firstly, the US economy went wrong as the
speculative economic boom was a bubble bursting,
and the US got the scandals with Enron, WoldCom,
Arthur Andersen etc. The world`s confidence in the
dollar declined with the huge US deficits, and the
terrorist attacks September the 11th 2001 worsened
the economic situation.

Secondly, the US got a rival with European Monetary
Union`s (EMU) implementation of the euro in 1999.
Numerous articles in international policy and
economic magazines discussed the significance of
this step. The main conclusions were that the euro
was the biggest challenge to the economic, and as a
result, political hegemony of the United States since
the dollar replaced the British sterling as the leading
international currency. Foreign states and capital got
an alternative currency for trade, bonds, reserve
currency and investments, and gradually the US
would have to renounce their advantages.

Thirdly, the prospects for the future energy demand
showed a rise, while the US own production of oil
would decline. The US policy of being less dependent
of the oil from the Middle East, has made a world wide
hunt for new resources and pipelines. And while
Afghanistan and Iraq have been in the media: Russia
continues the war in Chechnya to secure an oil
pipeline, and the United States increases the support
and participation in the bloody Vietnam style war in
Colombia. This war "mission" is extended to be the
Andean Regional Initiative. (ARI)

The market share of the Oil Producing and Exporting
Countries (OPEC) has decreased from 70% in 1970 to
40% in 2002. But, soon it will rise again, and OPEC
still has the main mechanism for adjusting the oil
prices by rising and cutting the production. This spare
capacity is today in the Persian Gulf, with cheap, high
quality oil and the world`s largest oil reserves.

If we look at the OPEC countries Saudi Arabia, Iraq,
Iran, Libya, Algeria, Venezuela, Nigeria, Indonesia,
Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Qatar, we see that
most of them are blinking lights on the US
geo-political highway. Saudi Arabia is considered as
an unreliable partner, especially after September the
11th. Iraq, Iran and Libya were put on the list of the
"Axis of the Evil States". The President Hugo Chavez
in Venezuela suffered a coup attempt in April 2002,
and actions of the opposition in the end of the year.

And when Iraq in November 2000 made the decision
to have the oil transactions in euros instead of dollars,
the dictatorship hit the nerve centre of the United
States. Who would follow this move, and perhaps
withdraw the enormous petrodollar investments in the
US? Had the euro became the link between the "Axis
of the Evil States" and the EU?

When the terrorist attacks hit the US September the
11th 2001, hard discussions appeared in the US
administration if Iraq should be the first target, but
the Taliban in Afghanistan and the hunt for Bin Laden
were chosen. The war against "terrorism" was used by
the US to accomplish the plan in the "Silk Road Act of
1999": By implementing economic and military
influence in a corridor of East-European and Central-
and East Asian countries the US could reduced
German, French, Russian and Chinese
influence.

These plans were based on the book "The Grand
Chessboard" (1997), written by the former Security
Advisor of Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski. He also
recommended an enlargement of EU and NATO to
undermine French, German and Russian influence.
France and Germany should also be balanced against
each other so neither of them dominated Europe.

The US used the war against "terrorism" to deploy
troops in the Eurasian corridor, Philippines and the
Persian Gulf, and Iraq became the next target. The
wrangling in the UN Security Council about the
weapons inspections were only the cover of the
underlying roots of the conflict: The imperialist battle
of present and future oil resources, the control of
competitors, the price mechanism, and the currencies
of oil transactions and investments.

Iraq is now occupied by the US and the UK, and the
imperialist battle continues. Britain, Italy and Spain
and several smaller EU countries, most of them
Eastern Europeans in the "Eurasian corridor", backed
the US on Iraq. The United States will punish France
for their opposition to the Iraq war. The "Old Europe"
France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg have
initiated an open mini-summit April the 29th to
discuss common military plans.

In the economy there is an open question if, or when,
the OPEC will switch transactions to euro. In April
2002, Javad Yarjani, Head of OPEC`s Petroleum
Market Analysis Dept, gave a speech in Spain
(Oviedo) where he said that the OPEC closely
observes if the oil producer Britain implements the
euro, and if Norway joins the EU and the eurozone.
He said also that the momentum for OPEC to consider
switching to euros grows with the
enlargement of EU with 10 new member states in
2004.

Besides this, there is a development going on
concerning the use of currencies. The "BusinessWeek
Online" reported on February the 17th 2003, that
Russia, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong and all the
Eastern European states that will join the European
Union next year, have increased their holdings in
euros. It still rests to see to how this "euro-virus" will
be spreading, but is obvious that it can be a gradual
threat to the hegemony of the United States.

The capitalist rule is "expand or die", and the struggle
goes on for new markets, resources and control of
other countries economies. Privatisations and
deregulations of services are also expansion of
markets. These attacks come with the flexibilisation
and casualisation of work conditions in order to split
and divide the workers. While the world`s attention is
directed towards the Persian Gulf and the next step of
the United States, the EU and the US are preparing a
major assault on worker`s rights through the
negotiations on the General Agreement on Trade in
Services (GATS).

The services are 72% of Gross National Product
(GNP) in the EU and 76% in the United States. The
EU is the world`s largest exporter of services, with the
US not far behind, and we can only imagine the
consequences of the coming proposals of the GATS.
A leaked document reveals the EU draft plans for
opening up essential service sectors in 29 countries
including postal services, water supplies, finance and
banking, electricity generation and supply, and
telecommunications services.

Social and economic attacks are followed by
repression. "Anti-terrorist" laws are used to be
implemented against demonstrations, strikes and
generally against everyone that wants to fight against
the social, economical and military wars made by the
capitalists. There are unfortunately many examples:
We will mention the killings in Colombia, the
murder of the anti-fascist Davide Cesari in Milan, and
the criminalizing of squatters- and social movements
in Spain, but also the threats and intimidations of
comrades in Serbia, Italy and Colombia.

And be sure, other laws and repression will follow. We
must remember that the First of May is in the
commemoration of the Haymarket Martyr`s. These
anarchists were persecuted to stop the strike
movement for the 8 hours day in Chicago in 1886.
They were unjustly accused of having exploded a
provocatory bomb, and this can happen again with
today`s aggressive and militarist capitalism.

As anarchosyndicalists we are convinced that we as
workers must liberate ourselves. What totally differs
the working class from the capitalists is that we don`t
need them, but they desperately need us for the death
machine called capitalism. The world is divided in
classes, and we don`t support any capitalism,
imperialism or dictatorship.

Because of this, it's suicide to support the EU against
the US hegemony, as some anti-war persons have
done lately. The Social Democratic parties in Europe
support the EU capitalist project, and it`s important to
follow their positions about the anti-war and
anti-globalisation movements. It must also be noticed
that the "anti- Iraq war" church, the Vatican,
implemented the euro as its currency in 1999.

Contrary to the reformist unions, the International
Workers Association (IWA) rejects integration into the
capitalist system. We don't class collaborate, have no
paid union officials, and we don't receive any
subsidies from our enemies. Our coherence is
essential as the struggle against the capitalist
exploitation and wars, also is a fight for a new system:
The IWA`s goal is to replace the capitalism and the
state by the free federation of workers free
associations - the libertarian communism.

The Sections and Friends of the IWA have been
active against the capitalist wars in general, and
specifically against the war and occupation of Iraq.
Information has been passed. Actions have been
taken and supported. General strikes, as in Italy and
Spain, have been organised. Saying this, does not
mean that we have forgotten the fight against the
social- and economic exploitation, as in Latin America.
The URGENT ACTIONS in support of strikes and for
reinstatement of sacked comrades are also parts of
the same struggle!

Finally, we will in this First of May statement, made in the 80th
Anniversary of the IWA, maintain the importance of seeing the
possibilities. Hundreds of thousands of people have marched
against the Iraq war, and awareness about direct actions and
ways of resistance are exchanged through all continents of the globe!